Jedburgh Castle Jail, Male Block upper floor study

On 29th October 2021 Otherworld North East were invited to take part in an overnight 12 hour field investigation at Jedburgh Castle Jail by Chris and Annette Fox of Deadzone Paranormal Adventures.

As part of this, we undertook a baseline photographic recording of the upper floor of the Male Block. This prison block isn’t open to the general public on a day to day basis as the block has yet to be renovated, but access is allowed to investigators during fieldwork sessions.

When the jail originally opened in 1823, the male block (which held both tried and untried male prisoners) held 11 cells on the first floor, with a series of dayrooms and arcades on the ground floor. From 1848 however, the ground floor arcades and dayrooms were partitioned off into further cells.

So what is the aim of this experiment? The aim was to produce a ‘baseline’ photographic resource of this area accurate as of 30th October 2021. With a history of ‘faked’ photographs in the media by visitors utilising the cardboard cutouts the museum use for displays, the idea of being able to look around each room appeared to be necessary. As such, these 360 images (taken using an Insta360 system) can be used as a visual baseline against any anomalous images captured during the fieldwork and beyond. Unfortunately the floor has no inbuilt lighting: this experimental stage suggested that softer ambient lanterns would be more suitable for lighting needs in the future.